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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
SOUTH Africa Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has apologised to foreigners who were attacked by some of his compatriots in recent weeks. His apology came hardly a day after President Jacob Zuma assured foreigners, including Zimbabweans living in the neighbouring country that they’re protected by a “friendly” legislative system that accommodates everyone irrespective of their nationality.
The apology follows utterances by South Africa’s Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini and President Jacob Zuma’s eldest son Edward, urging foreigners to go back to their countries of origin. The statements have been blamed for violent attacks against foreigners in Isipingo and Umlazi, south of Durban last week.
About 250 foreigners, most from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including children were attacked and their shops looted and belongings stolen. A Congolese man was burnt to death.
On Sunday, Gigaba addressed foreigners who are being accommodated in temporary shelters because of last week’s attacks.
He urged those who have documentation problems to approach the Home Affairs department for assistance.
The minister said his department would assist those who wished to return to their countries and those who were determined to stay.
He was quoted by the South African media as saying: “The important thing for them in that case is to register their names with their community leadership so that we can know how they’re, which countries they come from and then we will facilitate their return to their home countries.”
Inkhata Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi also apologised to the foreigners for the attacks.
Buthelezi said it was unacceptable that people from African countries that provided refuge to exiled South Africans during the apartheid era, are now being attacked in South Africa.
Zimbabwe Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi last week condemned the Zulu king’s remarks and said they were highly inflammatory and against Sadc protocols.
King Zwelithini’s remarks also sparked outrage from the South African Human Rights Comission (SAHRC) and opposition parties, which described his comments as “highly irresponsible”.
The king’s remarks were made against the backdrop of rising tensions between foreign nationals and locals in the neighbouring country.
Three weeks ago, a Zimbabwean woman who was wrongly accused of killing a young boy, was attacked by an angry mob in a shanty township near South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
The woman was burnt to death, while a man from Zimbabwe escaped after police intervened.
The Zimbabwean pair had been accused of bewitching the boy but a probe later revealed that the lad had been electrocuted.
Online Reporter